Yummy Food

The main reason we came to Arequipa was for the food, typical comida Arequipeña such as ‘rocoto relleno’, ‘chupe de camarones’, ‘chicharrones’ and more. We had never considered ourselves foodies in the slightest bit before we got to Peru. Never before being obsessed with food, I think being away from good food for months in Colombia and Ecuador finally took its toll.

When we finally were making our way to Lima and making plans to meet up with her, we told her that there are 2 things we’d like to do in the 2 days we’re in Lima: 1. See the ‘erotic pottery’ exhibition in Museo Larco 2. Eat yummy Peruvian food

And boy, like an awesome host that she is, she fulfilled both of our wishes.

Well, it didn’t take for the guilt to sink in and we decided to make it up for our remaining 2 days in Trujillo. Well, the guilt and the price tag, really. Pizza Hut was expensive.

Everyone that we’ve met unequivocally said that Peru has the best food in the whole continent.

Well, we’re going to judge it for ourselves. We’re skipping Trujillo’s more known comida tipica: cabrito, lomo saltado, and other local delicacies and sticking to sea food, taking advantage of the fact that Trujillo is located on the coast.

Come with us on a 2 day tour of Peruvian food!

Day 1 We found ourselves in Huaychao, a coastal village 30 min away from Trujillo. And there we had our first encounter with ceviche.

Ceviche – First encounter

I’m not a big fan of raw fish. I’m one of those people who go to the sushi restaurant and order exclusively from the fried/cooked roll sections.

So ceviche presents an interesting dilemma: it’s cooked. But not with fire. Does it count?

Regardless I decided that going to Peru without trying ceviche at least once would be a blasphemy.

When it came, my heart sank.

Our first ceviche

It looks worse than I imagined. It jiggles when I tried to spear a piece with my forks.

Finding a budget place to eat in Galapagos, especially if you’ve given up on cooking in hostels, was tough.

Still reeling from the price tags of the waterfront restaurants of Puerto Ayora, we stumbled across this eating place on a street called Charles Binford, 3 blocks inland.

Sharing the cramped eating space with a group of local cops and taxi drivers confirmed what our $5 lunch bill told us: This street, is the place to eat on a budget in downtown Puerto Ayora.

Charles Binford Ave at night

We ate here for almost all of our meals.

Give the local’s favorite, encocado de pescado (fish in coconut curry) a try. For $6, it’s not cheap by the mainland standard, but compared to everything else in Puerto Ayora, it’s a steal.

And it’s delicious.

Then again, coconut milk makes everything delicious.

Of the many restaurants there, one stood out

Our favorite restaurant is this gem called K.F. Williams.

Remember the restaurant with an identity crisis in Cartagena? Well, we might’ve found one that tops that. Check this out: the owner has murals of himself painted on the walls of the restaurant.

A mural at K.F. Williams of K.F. Williams' head

Not only that, when I asked for a menu, the girl pointed to the wall behind me.

William, William's portrait, and I

He’s got the menu painted, PAINTED, on the wall of the restaurant, complete with prices. Not painted on a board that hung on a wall, but actually on the wall itself.

I imagine they probably don’t change the menu and the prices too often there.

And who do you think prepared encocado de pescado? Nobody but William himself. We recognized him right away (how could we not?). And of course we had to drag him out of his busy kitchen to take pictures.

Is it just us or is the whole thing just simply hilarious? Not to mention a great marketing stint? We can’t seem to get over it.

My Indonesian parents’ biggest fear is to have guests leave the house hungry and they were concerned that Jack wouldn’t be able to find anything to eat during his first visit to Indonesia. What if he can’t eat rice everyday? What if everything is too spicy for him?